


Cavalry.

by betweenthepages



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 13:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1690514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betweenthepages/pseuds/betweenthepages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet for the prompt: "I'll carry you, hold still or it'll hurt more."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cavalry.

**Author's Note:**

> For kittenskysong on Tumblr.

By the time the golden retrievers find May, Skye's past fearing the worst. May’s slumped against the wall, bleeding out from a shot to the leg and one to the arm. There’s a syringe at her feet, and Skye runs for her, shouting her name. May stirs, disoriented but still conscious, and Skye breathes a sigh of relief.

She kneels down beside her, tearing off the sleeve of her shirt to tie around May’s arm. “I guess this makes me the cavalry, huh?” She’s rewarded with a weak roll of the eyes, and she stands, hefting May to her feet with her. “Can you walk?”

May goes down again with a grunt of pain, and Skye’s heart sinks with every second that she doesn’t get back up. “Must have hit bone,” May manages to grind out, and Skye assesses the situation. There’s no way May will make it out of here on her own two feet. 

"Hang on, I’ll carry you. Hold still or it’ll hurt more." May must have come to the same conclusion, because she doesn’t protest but instead throws her uninjured arm around Skye’s neck, letting her lift her. "Gun," she demands, and Skye gives it to her.

They swiftly make their way out of the building, and May’s burning up against Skye, barely hanging onto consciousness. It strikes her that May - the Cavalry herself - is clinging to her like she needs her, and the thought alone is enough to make her knees buckle.

She catches herself and begins to soothingly murmur a stream of comforting words, more for her own sake than May’s. “Almost there, I’m going to get you out of here, okay? Hang in there - you’re safe now, I’ve got you.”

May jerks in her arms, and Skye is suddenly terrified of what that syringe might have contained. A shot rings out and out of the corner of her eyes she sees a hostile go down, his gun clattering on the floor. 

"First rule of being the Cavalry," May mumbles, "is never promise anyone that they’re safe." Skye’s sure there’s more to the story, but she feels May go limp in her arms, and she’s never been so glad to see Coulson and Trip as she did in that moment.

For a few seconds they crowd her, Trip checking May’s pupils and pulse and nodding with relief. Coulson reaches out and caresses May’s cheek, and the moment feels so intimate Skye looks away. Trip moves to take May from her arms, and she shies away. 

"No, it’s okay, I’ve got her." Even now she can feel May’s quiet strength radiating off of her, and she’s a comforting weight in her arms. May’s carried her for so long in the aftermath of Ward, building up her strength again, and this, in some small way, feels like repaying the favor.

Coulson’s eyes linger over how May’s curled in against Skye’s chest, and he nods.

"Yeah, you do," he murmurs, and together they make it out of the darkness.


End file.
